Once upon a time there was an old lady who lived in the most
beautiful valley, but in the lost part of the world. A Buddhist Lama (Monk),
who was passing across, not seeing a single human being in his journey stopped
by requesting for some drinking water. The old lady was engrossed in the
blooming rhododendrons and other colourful flowers and thinking of the creator
of this beautiful valley. She slowly went inside her house to fetch some
drinking water and when she returned the Lama was gone, but had left a small
bag. Out of curiosity she opened the bag to find a relic inside it. Till date
the people of the beautiful Ura Valley, or Ura Lhakhang celebrate around this
relic in a festival, Ura Yakchoe.
It is said that Bumthang is the most beautiful part of Bhutan
and Ura Valley is the best part of Bumthang. It is said that Guru Padmasambhava
visited Bumthang to cure the Bumthang King, popularly known as Sindhu Raja.
There are lots of stories attached to this legendary journey. When the Sindhu
Raja’s messengers arrived Guru Rimpoche (Padmasambhava) at his place in Nepal,
he requested them to return with a few of his disciples and that he would
follow later. When the joint team arrived the foothills of the mountain trail,
they found that Guru Padmasambhava was meditating on a floating sal leaf. This
place today is identified as Ultapani, the western side of Indian Manas. The
Bodos have the legend of the monk going through a path next to it; Gonghar Lam
as they called it is hidden in the deep forests. Just above this area is the
Nubji-Korphu area, where we still can hear and see the interactions of Guru
Rimpoche with Kupdra Penpo from the Monpa village near Trongsa.
The Lama who asked for water from the old lady must have been
Guru Rimpoche and the relic left by him is celebrated even today. This year do
not miss the Ura Yokchoe festival to start from 18th of April and
should end around Friday that week.
While travelling in these areas, both in Bhutan and India, I have felt that these are the most sacred areas for Biodiversity and needs protection through the local traditions, as it has happened for hundreds of year in the past. All we need is to help keep this tradition living.
Photos
from my friend from Ura, who is also a Tiger expert from Bhutan, Lhendup
Tharchen.
